Former teacher sentenced

Saturday

Mar 29, 2014 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - A former Tracy elementary school teacher who pleaded guilty to child sex abuse charges was sentenced Friday following a tearful statement from a victim's parent and a loyal show of support from his wife.

Jennie Rodriguez-Moore

STOCKTON - A former Tracy elementary school teacher who pleaded guilty to child sex abuse charges was sentenced Friday following a tearful statement from a victim's parent and a loyal show of support from his wife.

Darrel Golden, 60, was sentenced to 14 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty to four counts of lewd acts upon a child.

Fourteen former students of Golden's testified before a criminal grand jury that he inappropriately touched them or made lewd comments during a six-year period he taught at Traina Elementary School in Tracy's Jefferson School District.

A Tracy woman, the parent of one of Goldman's victims, spoke in court Friday about the impact on her family before he was handed his sentence.

"The past 15 months has taken its toll on my family," the woman said. She has been forced to explain things to her child.

"I trusted you with my child, and you failed her," she said with a quivering voice and tear-swollen eyes. "You took a piece of her innocence.

"She had to answer questions and learn things that were deplorable."

The woman said she hopes to forgive, although, she said, she will never forget. She said she hopes Golden reflects in prison and prays for his own forgiveness.

"As these children you hurt are not the ones you ultimately have to answer to," she said.

Judge Franklin Stephenson advised the woman of county and state resources available. "And I'm sorry about what your family has gone through," he said.

Agnes Anaya, Golden's wife, stood up for her husband in court, saying Golden only took a plea deal because odds were against him and because there was so much media exposure.

"I've heard all the accusations, all the concerns of the parents. It's understandable," Anaya said. "However, nothing has been proven."

Anaya said her family also has been going through hardships.

"I hope that the court can understand that my husband only took the plea because there was no guarantee that he was going to be foreseen as not guilty," Anaya said.

Anaya said when parents "share that there is a possible money situation that they can gain from it, I'm sure a lot of them jumped in on it. I'm not saying all of them."

When police get involved, she said, "parents will go ahead and put the pressures on their children, and children will say whatever they feel is necessary to go ahead and please the authorities."

Anaya said she is saddened by the situation and for what families have been put through.

Deputy District Attorney Elton Grau refuted Anaya's claims.

"When the case first began, the first person to speak of what they saw was the janitor of the school, not a child, not a parent, but a janitor," Grau said. "And what the janitor saw was so disturbing that he went directly to the principal of the school."

Grau said the custodian saw Golden put his hands on the buttocks of a girl, who was younger than 11, in a room full of 30 students.

Most people don't want to believe that sexual abuse happens in that manner.

"But the fact is, 14 children testified in a grand jury and described multiple incidents in which Mr. Golden either touched them or made some lewd comment."

Golden was arrested in August at the conclusion of a months-long investigation launched by Tracy police in November 2012.

Authorities learned the then-school principal - who is no longer employed there - conducted her own internal investigation after a parent reported abuse in 2006, but she failed to report the incident to police.

Outside the courtroom, Grau said teachers, principals, doctors and anyone who works with children are required to report sexual or physical abuse.

"There is no 'do your own investigation,' " Grau said. "You must report to law enforcement in order for us to catch the case as soon as possible."

Grau said most of the victims were hesitant to testify, and families wanted to focus on healing.

"Sexual abuse isn't like a punch," Grau said. "A punch heals. Sexual abuse takes some time to kind of get over it."

Contact reporter Jennie Rodriguez-Moore at (209) 943-8564 or jrodriguez@recordnet.com. Follow her at recordnet.com/courtsblog and on Twitter @TheRecordCourts.